Opening Event 2-4 p.m. Saturday Nov. 4 Offers Rare Saturday Opportunity
Five fascinating men who explored, mapped, promoted and conserved the San Gabriel Mountains are featured in a new exhibit at the Altadena Historical Society’s museum in the Altadena Community Center.
The exhibit, “Inspired by the San Gabriels: Five Men and the Mountains,” will be unveiled in a free, public opening event from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 4, a rare opportunity for the community to visit on a weekend, when the Community Center is usually closed.
Thereafter, the exhibit will be on year-long display during the society’s regular hours, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays, and by appointment. Special arrangements can be made for groups of all ages.
The Community center is at 730 E. Altadena Drive, just west of the sheriff’s station and across the street from Rite-Aid.
Featured in the exhibit are the photos, letters, maps and memorabilia of George Wharton James; Theodore Lukens; Will Thrall; Don McClain; and L.T. Gotchy. Descendants of several of the men are expected to attend.
The Historical Society’s new website on the history of Altadena’s Mount Lowe Railway will also be launched that afternoon.
The website features scores of photos, maps, and newspaper articles from the AHS archives about the incline railway, its hotels and attractions, that were an internationally known tourist destination in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
The website was made possible with the help of a grant from Southern California Edison Co.
George Wharton James was a writer, lecturer and publicist for the Mount Lowe Railway who helped draw millions of tourists and hikers to the San Gabriels. Sometimes called “The Father of Forestry,” Theodore Lukens and his friend John Muir helped to build an awareness of the need to conserve California’s natural treasures.
Altadenan Don McClain mapped, photographed and named some of the area’s mountains, working as a surveyor for the Forest Service. Will Thrall, who as a young man helped build the Mount Lowe Railway, publicized the pleasures of mountain hiking in Trails magazine and the Los Angeles Times.
L.T. Gotchy lived in a tiny mountain cabin and was a forest firefighter and a photographer who documented the charred remains of the Mount Lowe Railway and many other scenes throughout California.
The Altadena Historical Society is a nonprofit organization founded in 1935 to gather, preserve and publicize information about the people, places and events that have shaped the community. It can be reached at (626) 797-8016 and at Altadenahistorical.society@yahoo.com.
